The University of California Police Department has moved into a temporary location while its old building is torn down and a state-of-the-art station is erected in its place.
The current location for the UCPD is 11000 Kinross Ave., near parking structure 36. Assistant Chief of Police Jeff Young said other than the physical change, students should not notice a difference.
“The only thing is the physical location. It won’t change anything as far as our response times, our phone numbers, our mailing address or our e-mails,” Young said.
Nancy Greenstein, director of police community services for the UCPD, added that the public will not be affected by the move.
“They shouldn’t expect any differences. The service we’re providing them, our transition for them will be seamless,” Greenstein said.
The new station should be completed at some point in the next 18 months to two years. Manny Garza, support operations captain for the UCPD, said he would like to see the building completed as soon as possible.
“It’s going to be bigger. … We look forward to it. Hopefully it’ll be a quick build,” Garza said.
Greenstein said the primary reason for the new construction is the old building was not designed for police use.
“The (new) space will be more appropriate for police operations. The old building housed lots of different departments over the years, so it wasn’t really a police station,” Greenstein said.
Greenstein added the old building also was not compatible with construction regulations for earthquake safety and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“Besides being seismically safe, an important component will be that it’s ADA accessible. Previously, we couldn’t extend invitations (to some people with disabilities) to our building due to issues of access,” Greenstein said.
Young said the new building will also be bigger than the old one.
“We’re adding about 9,000 or 10,000 square feet to the building. … (It’s) a very interesting and exciting project to be involved in,” Young said.
Most of the transition from the old building to the temporary location is complete. A good portion of the move was completed over students’ winter break.
“It’s a lot more work than any of us ever anticipated, the complexities that go along with moving an entire department. It’s been quite an undertaking,” Garza said.
Garza said some sections, such as Communication Services ““ which encompasses the police dispatchers and the 911 operators ““ were moved nearly a month ago without any problems.
“The transition has taken place without a disruption in services. Communication Services were moved mid-December, and that was a very large project that went seamlessly to the public,” Garza said.
Greenstein said she is impressed with how the move has gone.
“I think it’s going well. It takes a lot of energy to move. … The police station, and the staff has been really flexible,” Greenstein said.
Garza said while the physical move is complete, people are still settling into the new location.
“It’ll probably be three to four weeks before the dust settles, boxes are unpacked, et cetera,” Garza said.